Inspector Rose - The Meaning of Courage
by ohmoveoveralohomora
Summary: Rose is back again with her freelancing detective agency up and running. She takes up her first case - a missing portrait of the Scamander twins' great-great grandfather (or something like that), Newt Scamander. She seems to have bitten off a bit more than she can chew, finding herself tumbling from the top of the Astronomy Tower and more. Will Rose survive to solve the case?
1. Chapter 1

"Hey," a pair of startlingly grey eyes peered through a mop of blond hair over the stack of parchment Rose was sitting behind. "Hey, you," she waved her quill distractedly at Scorpius without looking up from her work.

"Missing homework, one; cheating boyfriend, three; strange noises on the seventh floor, five; memory loss ..." Rose murmured as she sorted the application forms into piles according to 'mysteriousness', as Scorpius called it.

"Rose?" Scorpius raised his eyebrows, not that she could see, of course. "Hmmm, I'll give that a six and a half ... Writing on the bathroom wall, four; ooh, hidden corridor on the fourth floor - could be useful, but not really a mystery ..." Scorpius walked in between the towers of parchment, brushing the edges of a few. "Rose."

He stopped right next to her and stared pointedly at the back of her head, as her face was almost buried in the forms. "Sneakoscope not functioning properly, one; ... 'dungbombs'? Ok ... zero," Rose jumped as Scorpius put his hand on her shoulder.

"Rose," he said, slightly irritated, "Could you take a break for a sec?" She looked between him and the piles of applications a few times, and then sighed. "Uh, ok," she leaned back into the couch. Her exhausted brain spun for a second, and then she frowned. "Wait, this is the Gryffindor common room! How can you be here?" Scorpius grinned and sank down into the seat next to her.

"Hey, I come in here all the time, Rose, haven't you noticed?" His face fell slightly. "Al lets me in." Rose was distracted by a piece of parchment that had become dislodged from the pile yet to be sorted - she flicked her wand and it was shoved back into place. Unfortunately, as she turned back to Scorpius, the pile teetered uncertainly and started to fly apart. Hearing the disturbance of parchment, Rose turned back to the pile only to have it collapse all over Scorpius and herself.

"Umfph," she struggled to free herself from the cloying sea of forms. She heard Scorpius mutter something, and the papers flew off them and organised themselves neatly into a few smaller piles. "Thanks, Scorp," she leant her head on his shoulder. "No problem," he sighed. He put his arm around her shoulders and began toying with her hair.

"Maybe ... maybe you should just try something a little easier this time, Rose," he suggested. Rose stifled a yawn and looked at the clock - it was only four! "Hmmm," she mused, neither agreeing or disagreeing. Scorpius turned her around slightly to face him, and she found herself staring into his eyes, which were warm despite their grey colour.

"You need to take a break, Rose - and not just like this, an actual break from all this work. Everyone needs free time, Rose, but you never seem to have any to spare." Rose blinked and shook her head. "I'll - I'll be fine," she stammered. "And anyway, I can't stop now - some of these mysteries are actually important." She twined his fingers with her own.

"Damn it, Rose," he turned away, a sort of hard, steely look in his eyes. He gripped her hand tightly for a few seconds, and then slowly released the pressure. "Fine - fine," his voice softened. "Just this next one, it's a small one, okay? No Acromantula, no centaurs, no Chamber of Secrets, yeah?" He smiled weakly, his eyes pleading with her, and Rose found that she couldn't say no.

"Oh - okay," she relented. "But seriously, we were fine with the Acromantula, and I had the centaur thing under control! Besides, the basilisk's been dead for almost thirty years - I wasn't in any danger ..." She trailed off at the look on Scorpius' face. "Okay, no monsters or stuff, I promise."

Scorpius pulled her to his chest and Rose let her head rest on his shoulder. "Okay, so random mystery, here we go," Rose grinned lifting her wand. "But if it's that dungbomb one -" she said, turning around to face Scorpius. "Yeah, yeah, I know," he smirked. Taking a deep breath, Rose closed her eyes and swished her wand.

"Accio," she whispered, and her eyes flew open as a piece of parchment landed in her outstretched hand. Carefully, she unrolled it and read it's contents aloud. "Submitted by Lorcan and Lysander Scamander," Rose grinned. This was sure to be something quirky.

"Mystery: It has come to our attention that a portrait of our great-grandfather, Newt Scamander, resided at Hogwarts at some point in time last century. We have so far been unable to find it, and would appreciate any help which Detective Rose could offer to this mystery. We are in possession of the records confirming that the painting was in the Hogwarts collection in 1968, and should you wish to delve further into this mystery we would be happy to give you access to them. It was submitted two weeks ago," Rose finished, and they sat in silence for a few minutes, Rose mulling over the mystery.

"So, as my agent, what's your decision?" She joked, poking Scorpius gently in the stomach - which was more muscled than she remembered, Rose realised. Scorpius frowned down at the piece of parchment. "Okay," he agreed.

"But only as long as I get to do this." Rose tucked the application form into a pocket. "Do what?" She asked, and Scorpius lifted her onto his lap and kissed her, for what Rose realised was the first time in weeks. After a few seconds, they broke apart, and Rose said breathily, "Well, that's fine by me."

Smirking, Scorpius snaked an arm around her back and pulled her in again until their noses touched. "Then it's a done deal," he whispered, his breath tickling her skin, and sealed their agreement with a kiss.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey, Lorcan, hey Lysander," Rose grinned at the gangly twins as they clambered down the stairs leading to the Ravenclaw tower. "Wow, uh - Rose!" Lorcan stammered. "We can't believe you're helping us find the painting, this is better than finding a nest of nargles!" Lysander grinned at her.

"So, you guys have the records, right?" She asked, laughing a little at Lysander's comment. They were bound to become Magizoologists like their mother, whom Rose admired quite a bit - after all, she had discovered the Lupus Vindico, an animal whose saliva had been found to help werewolves immensely during their transformations. "Yes - here you go," Lorcan said, handing a bundle of parchment over to Rose. "It's all we could find about the portrait, and a list of the places we've looked. We weren't really able to find anything else, but if you need any more information about Newt just ask us," he added.

"Thanks," Rose took the records. "I'll be right on it," she smiled at the boys as they thanked her and rushed down to breakfast, a mouse poking it's nose out of Lysander's robes. Rose wandered down in the direction of the Great Hall and began to read what the twins had collected. From what Rose could tell, the painting had been commissioned in 1923 and gifted to Hogwarts upon its completion. The last record of it was in 1968 when it was reinstalled after being put in for maintenance.

She'd have to check the list she'd made while searching for Professor Snape's painting - at least all that work was finally becoming useful! Rose recalled that she'd gotten up to the Seventh floor before Scorpius had told her about Snape's painting - that meant that she'd only have to search the rest of the Seventh floor plus the four common rooms and any hidden passageways if the painting wasn't on her list.

"Accio," she flicked her wand and continued to walk and readwhile she waited for the scroll to reach her. If the painting wasn't in the school, what would she do then? Maybe the Ministry might have records of its removal - she could ask her mum for access to the Ministry archives. Rose was so busy planning how she would tackle this case that she walked straight past the Great Hall and out into the courtyard.

"Rose!" She jumped as someone called put her name, and blinked when she realised that she was standing outside. She turned around to see Scorpius standing in the doorway to the Entrance Hall, holding something in his hands. "Hey," she replied, and he frowned. "I thought you said you'd join us for breakfast," he said, nodding his head in the direction of the Great Hall. "I - I was coming," Rose blushed. "I just got distracted."

Scorpius looked at her for a second, then beckoned to her. "Well, come on then, come inside and tell us what's so distracting," he grinned and Rose jogged back to him, stifling her laughter as a scroll zoomed past, nearly knocking him over, as she caught the parchment easily. "Okay," she winked as he glowered at her.

* * *

"Rose, give that to me and I'll look, okay?" Scorpius wrestled the list out of her hands. "You need to eat," he said, looking pointedly at her plate, which was piled high and had barely been touched. "Hey, what's that?" Al slid into the seat across from Rose. Quickly, Scorpius explained the case to his friend. "And now I'm checking it because Rose needs to eat," he pointed at her still full plate.

"Oh, fine," she replied grouchily. "But for Merlin's sake don't miss anything!" Rose had to admit that she was hungry, though, and Hogwarts breakfasts were always delicious.

* * *

Half an hour later, Rose pushed her plate away, completely stuffed with eggs, bacon, toast and pumpkin juice. "Nothing here," Scorpius announced, rolling the scroll up and sliding it over to Rose. "Oh, good," she clapped her hands excitedly at the prospect of a proper mystery, but stopped when Scorpius fixed her with his disapproving stare. "Uh, I mean, damn - this was supposed to be an easy case," she said in a monotone.

"So, what now?" Al asked, a little bemused by their exchange. "We need to check all the passageways and secret rooms on the marauder's map - I'm pretty sure it's not in any of the common rooms or the twins would have found out," she deduced. "Hey, can I help?" Al asked, and Rose looked incredulously at her cousin. "Oh come on Rose, I know the secret passageways back to front! And anyway, I'm bored," he shrugged. "Okay, let's go," she pushed her chair out and strode out of the Great Hall, the boys following behind her. Little did she know that someone else was following her as well.

* * *

"Nothing in here," Rose called back to Scorpius and climbed out if the narrow passageway that lead to a dusty cave. Before hers eyes could adjust to the brightness, something crashed into her from the side and she was pushed over, skidding a few feet along the floor. "Rose," she blinked and saw that it had been Scorpius that had pushed her over.

"What did you do that for?" She demanded, and he pointed to a pile of rubble that lay where she'd been standing just seconds before. "Well, I was trying to stop you from being crushed by that falling statue but if you'd rather I hadn't ..." His voice cracked and broke off. Rose lay there for a second, shocked. If Scorpius hadn't reacted so quickly ... She rested her cheek on his chest and closed her eyes. "M - maybe we should finish the search for today," she whispered. "Good idea," Scorpius answered and stoked her hair. "Let's go."

* * *

Later, Rose lay in bed, thinking about what had happened. She could have died today. The thought made her shudder, but not as much as what she'd seen right after Scorpius had saved her. She hadn't told him because she knew that Scorpius would just worry, but she was almost certain that she'd seen the Potions Master, Professor Sicarius, hurry around the corner away from them. He'd looked like he was fleeing the scene of a crime.


	3. Chapter 3

"Nothing here," Scorpius called out to Rose and jogged out of yet another hidden passageway. Rose laughed as she saw he was covered in cobwebs, which shimmered a bit in the light, but stepped away from him in case he'd brought any spiders out with him. Though she might not have the severe phobia that her dad and brother shared, Rose wasn't super keen on having any type of arachnid crawling over her - luckily Scorpius wasn't so averse to the creepy things.

"That's the last place on the map," she sighed. "Let's go meet Al - maybe he's found something?" She tried to sound hopeful, but she didn't think that it was very likely that her cousin had found the painting. They walked up to the astronomy tower, which was the place they had chosen to meet as they could talk in secret there.

"So, what do we do next, then, inspector?" Scorpius nudged her playfully. "I guess I'd better write a letter to my mum," she replied, rummaging around in her book bag for a quill and parchment. "You're not seriously going to write while you're walking, Rose," Scorpius asked incredulously. "Last time you did that you walked into the statue of Wilfred the Wistful," he reminded her, but Rose just grinned back at him. "Well, you'll just have to stop me from doing that, won't you?" She replied, and began to write a letter to her mum.

_Dear Mum, _(she wrote)

_How's your bill on the Equality of Magical Creatures going? I hope that guy from the Wizengamot isn't giving you a hard time again. School's going okay - we haven't got too much homework and Gryffindor and Slytherin are neck and neck in House points._

_You know how I told you that I'd started solving mysteries - well, at the moment I'm trying to find a portrait of Newt Scamander that was last seen in Hogwarts in 1968. The Scamander twins put me up to it, of course, and I've got some records that I'll copy and send along with this letter. We've searched all of the school (including the hidden areas shown on the marauder's map) and I was hoping that you might be able to see if the Ministry had any records of the painting being removed from the school._

_Holidays are coming up soon, so I guess I'll see you then._

_Love,_

_Rose_

Rose rolled up the parchment and pulled out the records that the twins had given her. "Gemino," she whispered, and flicked her wand at the records. They shimmered and exact duplicates appeared on top of them. Rose folded the copies up and attached them to her letter. On the front of the package, she wrote,

_Hermione Weasley_

_Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement_

_Level Two_

_Ministry of Magic_

_London_

Stowing her quill away, she looked up and called out, "Felix!" In the few seconds that she waited for the phoenix to appear, she realised two things - that she was already at the top of the astronomy tower, and that Scorpius was no longer beside her, in fact, she couldn't see him at all.

The was a rustling behind her, and Rose turned towards the noise, but before she could see what it was there was a loud bang and the world turned black. Hands grabbed her from behind and wrestled her wand and the letter for her mum out of her grip. Rose tried frantically to turn around and escape her attacker's grasp, but she couldn't see and the hands holding her were too strong.

She was pushed forward roughly until her feet brushed against the battlements at the very edge of the tower. She tried to scream for help but no sound escaped her mouth - the assassin must have cast a silencing charm on her. And the person was an assassin, Rose knew, and any second now she would be pushed off the tower and tumble to her death.

Her heart pounded in her chest and she desperately struggled against her captor, but to no avail. She felt the assassin's breath on her cheek, and then she was falling, her hair whipping against her face. In a last-ditch effort, Rose summoned all her energy and screamed 'Arresto Momentum!' inside her head in the hope that, even though she had no wand, it might work. The last thing Rose thought of was Scorpius and how he'd told her not to write while she was walking, and then she knew no more.

* * *

"Rose!" A voice echoed around in her head, bouncing painfully against her skull. "Come on Rose, don't - don't go ..." Sobbing. Light shone above her, and shadows oscillated just out of her reach. Cool hands on her wrist. "She's still alive," a woman's voice said shakily.

Rose struggled to open her eyes. She had to wake up, she knew. She couldn't stand that the boy was crying over her - she had to wake up. She had to open her eyes for him - for Scorpius. Her eyes flew open to see him bent over her, eyes red-rimmed and cheeks pale. Madame Pomphrey stood on the other side of her bed, pouring out some kind of concoction.

"Rose!" Scorpius' eyes widened with relief and his voice cracked. "Scorp," she croaked weakly. "What - what happened? I was at the astronomy tower, and then it all went black, and - and someone pushed me ... " she trailed off, frowning. "How - I thought I was going to die," she shivered. "I fell from the top of the astronomy tower - why didn't I die?" She gripped Scorpius' hand tightly.

"I - I don't know, Rose," Scorpius looked at her worriedly. "One minute I was walking next to you, and the next minute you were - you were gone," he bit his lip. "I ran around, looking for you, and then Felix appeared and he took me outside, and you - you were falling from the tower." He stopped and swallowed deeply, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down. "But suddenly you slowed down, and you hit the ground before Felix could reach you - and eve though you hadn't hit the ground at full force, it was bad, Rose," he finished.

"It worked," she breathed eventually. "W - what?" Scorpius frowned. "Before I blacked out, I tried casting a spell to stop myself from falling, even though I didn't have a wand and I couldn't speak," she explained. "And it worked." The two of them sat there for a second, just looking at each other.

"Now, Mr Malfoy, you must let Miss Weasley rest," Madame Pomphrey shooed him away, oblivious to Rose's protests. "Now, you just sleep for a while, okay, Miss Weasley?" The matron pushed some medicine into Rose's mouth. "And when you wake up, we'll see how you are."

Rose looked past Madame Pomphrey and saw Scorpius standing in the doorway, a strange expression of pain, worry and anger on his face. And just like that Rose knew that he knew someone was trying to kill her - and that he would do anything to stop them. Before she slipped of to sleep again, she felt fear - not for herself, but for him.


	4. Chapter 4

Rose opened her eyes and groaned. She hadn't even got out of bed yet and every bone and muscle in her body ached. She blinked to clear her eyes and stared blankly in confusion at the scene around her. There were rows of beds on either side of her own and cabinets of various medicinal potions and plants. She was in the hospital wing, but for the life of her, Rose couldn't remember why.

There was the sound scuffing feet and suddenly her parents' faces loomed over her. "Oh Rose you're awake! How do you feel?" Her mum sat down on a stool next to Rose's bed and her dad stood next to her. "Sore," Rose admitted. "But - what are you doing here? What am I doing here?" She asked, and pinched, worried looks crossed her parents' faces.

"Don't you remem - " her mum started, but her dad cut in. "It's okay, Rose, you just gave us a scare, is all," her dad smiled weakly at her. "You - you fell off the astronomy tower," her mum bit her lip. "Do you know why you were up there?" Rose wracked her brains for the answer. She'd - she'd been going there with Scorpius to meet Al, hadn't she? But after that she could recall anything.

"I was looking in some of the hidden passageways for a painting with Sco - with Al, and, uh, we'd split up and I was going to meet him at the tower," she'd nearly slipped and told dad she was with Scorpius! Rose prayed he hadn't noticed her hesitation. Thankfully, his mind seemed to be on other things, but she was sure her mum knew something was going on - Rose had hardly ever been able to hide anything from her, and now was no exception.

"It's okay Rosie - don't push yourself. You got knocked pretty hard on the head, so just get some rest, yeah?" Her dad stroked her hair gently. "Okay," she nodded, and then groaned as pain flared in her neck. "Is Al here?" She asked. "If you want to talk to him, he's out there - with the rest of the family," her mum grinned. "Well, we'd best be off now, but we'll see you soon, okay?" Her parents kissed her goodbye and left.

No sooner than they were out the door when a group of red- and black-haired students rushed in and crowded around her bed. "Hey Rose, we brought you chocolate!" "How are you feeling?" "Falling off the astronomy tower? Awesome!" Voices came from everywhere and Rose winced as the sudden noise set her headache off again.

"Quiet, guys, or Madame Pomphrey will kick us all out!" Lily said quietly, but still managed to get everyone's attention. Rose smiled at her thankfully. A thought struck her. "Al - where's Felix?" She asked her cousin. "Hey, guys, let him through," Al called and the crowd parted to reveal Scorpius carrying Felix on his arm. The Phoenix fluttered over to Rose's pillow and started nuzzling her. "Hey, I missed you too," she scratched the feathers under his neck, moving slowly as not to exacerbate her aching bones.

"Ahem?" Rose looked up to see Scorpius looking wounded. "Yes, and you too," she rolled her eyes. Scorpius pushed to the front and sat down in the chair that her mum had recently vacated. "Rose, you said that someone pushed you off that tower," he said, his grey eyes boring into hers. "Wait - what?" She blinked. "When did I tell you - I don't remember anything after I started to write that letter to mum ... " she looked around her bedside for the package.

"Where is it? Did anyone find it?" Her cousins looked at each other and all shook their heads. "We found your wand at the top of the tower, but nothing else," Al said, and handed her her wand. "Wait," Scorpius frowned. "You don't remember anything? Yesterday you told me that someone attacked you, took your wand and the letter, and pushed you off the tower!" Rose's eyes widened. "I - I don't remember anything," she said finally. The group sat in silence for a while.

"Rose," Scorpius began, "I - no, we - think you're in danger. First that falling rock, and now this ... " he trailed off. "I thought you were going to die. I thought you had died." Rose tried to smile at him but couldn't bring herself to. "So anyway," Al clapped his hands enthusiastically, "we've decided that you need some people to look out for you -" "- and we think we're just the people for the job!" Fred chimed in from the foot of her bed.

"We've made these armbands," Al held his wrist up to show a silver amulet with a tiny Phoenix emblem carved into it. "We've all got one, and we made one for you, too," Lily slid a bracelet identical to Al's into her wrist. "If you're ever in trouble, just press the phoenix and think or say 'Felix', and everyone else's armbands will heat up."

Rose frowned. "But -" " - how will we know where you are?" James forestalled her question. "Al put a nifty charm on it so the amulets show a path to where you are," he explained. Rose raised her eyebrows at Al. "I didn't know you could do a Gemino charm." Al shrugged. "I had some help," her said, nodding towards Scorpius, who grinned.

"So it works both ways, though? Someone else could use it if they're in trouble, right?" She asked. "Yeah, which is why they'll be really useful anyway," Rose noticed that Roxy was there as well - in fact, all her cousins were there, except for Uncle Percy's kids, Molly and Lucy. She wondered absently how on earth they'd convinced Madame Pomphrey to let them all in.

"How did you come up with this idea?" She asked, amazed. "Well, we actually copied the idea off something our parents did in their fifth year," James admitted. "Except they used fake Galleons," Al added. Something stirred in Rose's memory. "You're not starting -" "- Dumbledore's Army?" Scorpius finished for her. "That's exactly what we're planning on doing."


	5. Chapter 5

Rose tapped her wand in the centre of the parchment and the various pieces rolled up neatly into a scroll, a red ribbon tying itself around the package. "You're not still looking for that painting, are you?" Rose looked up from the table to see Scorpius sauntering into the common room, his Nimbus Three Thousand at his side. "Oh, come on, Scorp, I'm just sending a letter to my mum," she complained.

Scorpius rested on his broom on the other side of the table. "As long as you promise not to go off doing anything else - "

"Yes, yes," Rose rolled her eyes and jumped up out of her seat.

" - and so long as I go post it." Scorpius looked her straight in the eye.

"Seriously?" Rose huffed. "Can't I do anything now?"

Scorpius held out his hand for the letter. "Rose, you only got out of the hospital wing yesterday, and that was thanks to Felix's tears. It's been barely a week since you got pushed off that tower - and yes, I know what you told me before Rose - it's true," he added at her exasperated sigh. They'd had a few arguments about the attempts on Rose's life - Scorpius said he was sure that someone was out to get her, but Rose was sure that she remembered that the stone that had nearly fallen on her had been loosened by Peeves anyway, and she certainly didn't remember anyone pushing her off the astronomy tower, only tripping.

"Just let me take the letter to the owlery, okay?" He said, pained, and Rose finally crumbled at the pleading look on his face.

"Okay," she reluctantly handed the roll of parchment over.

"I'll be back in a sec," Scorpius grabbed his broom and went to leave out the portrait hole.

"You're not going to fly, are you?" Rose asked incredulously.

"Hey, that's a good idea, actually," he went to mount his broom.

"Scorpius Malfoy," she put one hand on her hip.

"Fine, fine," he grinned, and dashed out the portrait hole on foot. "Be back soon!" He called over his shoulder.

"You'd better be," Rose called back before the painting swung shut after him. She thought she could hear the Fat Lady muttering something about Slytherins not being allowed in the common room in her day, but she couldn't be sure.

* * *

"I'm back," Scorpius tumbled into the common room.

"Finally," Rose said, not looking up from her book. Scorpius collapsed into an armchair across from her. "What are you - argh," Rose exclaimed as he splattered mud from his quidditch gear all over the couch. "Scourgify," she flicked her wand and the mud disappeared from his clothes. Scorpius shivered.

"Ugh, that was - weird," he shook his head and his fringe flopped back down, nearly obscuring his grey eyes.

Rose didn't reply, already engrossed in her book. "Rose," Scorpius leaned over and snatched her book away, which elicited a cry of outrage. "We need to talk." Rose crossed her arms and frowned at him.

"About what?"

"About you," he stated. "Now, I know you don't believe me about you being in danger, but - no, listen, Rose! - I think someone's tampered with you memory," he leaned forward insistently.

"I - " Rose faltered. It could be possible - Scorpius had told her that she'd talked to him just after she fell from the tower, and had told him that someone had pushed her. She didn't remember, but he'd said that she'd seemed perfectly lucid. And there was something nagging her about that day with the falling statue - something that she'd been going to tell Scorpius about, but didn't for the fear that he'd get overprotective, like now.

"Hmmm?" He nodded at her.

"Well, maybe," she conceded. "But Scorp - why would someone want to kill me? How am I dangerous?" Scorpius leaned back, both satisfied and concerned.

"Let's start at the start - like you do with any other mystery," he decided. "What was happening when the rock nearly fell on you? What was different?" He asked her.

"Well, we were looking for the painting," she said. "I'd just taken up the case, and you and Al were helping me."

Rose tapped her wand absently on the arm of her seat. "But what is so special about a portrait of Newt Scamander? There must be more of them around." Scorpius gazed over Rose's shoulder.

"When did it disappear? Maybe someone stole it, and they don't want you to find it," he guessed.

"Hmmm," Rose wasn't convinced.

"It was last seen in 1968," she remembered. "Now, what happened in 1968?" Rose walked over to a pile of books and picked one from the bottom. "Now, this should have it," she flicked through the yellowed pages until she found what she was looking for. "Here - 1968, Gwenog Jones is born - no, I don't want births ... Hamlisch MacFarlan becomes Head of the Department for Magical Games and Sports ... Squibs Right's Marches ... Nobby Leach resigns as Minister for Magic," Rose paused.

"That was quite a scandal - he was the first muggle to become Minister for Magic, you know, and many people think Abraxas Malfoy and his high-up friends had something to do with his 'resigning'," she stopped mid-sentence, her mouth an 'o' shape, and looked up, face red, at Scorpius. They sat in silence for a second.

"Sorry," she muttered.

"No problem," he said gruffly. "I don't give a damn about my family and their stupid pure-blood mania anyway." After another lengthy silence, Rose stood up and grabbed another book from a pile on the other side of the room.

"What happened at Hogwarts in 1969, then..." Again, she rifled through the pages until she found the right entry.

"Slytherin wins the Quidditch Cup, but Ravenclaw wins overall ... Ooh, that was Grandad's senior year! ... Oh!" Rose looked up again, this time a look of surprise and excitement on her face.

"What?" Scorpius leaned forward eagerly. "April 12th - Minister of Magic Nobby Leach visits Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry." The two looked at each other.

"What if he took the painting - " Scorpius started,

" - and someone doesn't want me to find it?" Rose finished for him. "But why me?" She frowned. "The Lysander twins have been looking for it for ages," she wracked her brains for the answer.

"Well, what could you do with a painting that they couldn't?" Scorpius asked her slowly,as if the answer was just coming to him.

"Scorpius," she said. "What if there's something hidden in that painting?" His stormy grey eyes stared back at her.

"What are you suggesting?" Rose took a second to gather her thoughts.

"We know that Leach was probably forced out because he was pro-muggle-born, being one himself, but what if it was because of one specific thing that he was trying to do? What if he was trying to pass a bill that the pure-blood families didn't like?" Rose's hands were shaking now.

"Yes?" Scorpius encouraged her.

"What if he hid the bill in that painting, and stole the painting to make sure no one could destroy it?" Scorpius frowned.

"But why is it a problem now? Surely your mum, at least, has passed whatever law it was already," he reasoned, but Rose shook her head.

"Scorpius, this is serious," she steadied her hands. "They tried to kill me, and that's not something they'd do lightly - it causes a scene, you see?" She explained at his look of incomprehension.

"Nobby Leach tried to pass a law that to this day still doesn't exist," she trembled. "It couldn't be to do with the statute of secrecy, of course, but what else wouldn't the rich wizarding families of Britain want?" She asked Scorpius.

"I don't know," he shrugged.

"I don't know either," Rose admitted. "But it's something big." She shivered. "Something that could change the wizarding world."

* * *

At the Ministry of Magic, Hermione Weasley was more than ready to go home after a particularly challenging day as the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. First it had been welcoming the new Aurors, which wouldn't have been too bad as Harry and Ron had been there too, but there had been an accident with an escaped cockatrice from the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, and one of the recruits had been badly burnt, which of course meant lots of paperwork for both her and Harry as heads of their areas.

Then she'd had to go into the Wizengamot with that insufferable man, Mr Tolstark, testifying against her case, which had left her frustrated and exhausted. And to top it all off, she'd had to give an interview to the Daily Prophet - although she had organised it herself, it was only because of necessity and not by choice. Hermione had never quite trusted the Prophet after the incidents in her school years, though she held nothing against the sports section as it was greatly influenced by Ginny.

So as yet another owl flew through her window, it took a huge amount of effort for her not to swear, as she'd just been about to get up and leave. Agitated, she pulled to scroll off the owl's foot and motioned for it to stay - she supposed that she's have to reply to whatever it was. To her surprise, it was a letter from her daughter, Rose. After skimming through quickly, she grinned and penned a speedy reply.

_Dear Rose,_

_The Wizengamot man (I won't mention his name as it's not really important, and I shouldn't really be telling you about him in the first place - Ministry secrets, you know) has unfortunately struck again, but I'm hopeful that I'll get the bill through within the week._

_As for your mystery, I suggest that you look at the front page of the Daily Prophet tomorrow morning. I know I don't usually approve of the Prophet, but I can't explain it better myself - especially as I do explain it myself in the interview! All will be revealed when you read the article, I'm sure._

_I heard that you're out of the hospital wing - I hope you're feeling better, and don't push yourself too hard: we don't want you in there again too soon!_

_Love,_

_Mum_

Hermione folded up the letter and gave it to the Hogwarts owl, which was still waiting patiently. Well, she thought, as she watched the bird soar away, at least something that she'd done today had been worthwhile.


	6. Chapter 6

Rose narrowly avoided tripping spectacularly down the staircase as she rushed down to the Great Hall for breakfast. It wasn't surprising, though, as she was attempting to read a letter from her mum at the same time, and it was quite miraculous that she hadn't crashed into anything or anyone already, considering the speed at which she was going. Rose was just reading the last lines of the letter when she arrived in front of the Great Hall, hair falling out of a hastily-done braid and slightly out of breath.

She walked briskly over to where Scorpius, Al, James, Lily and a few others where sitting and squeezed in between her two male Potter cousins. "Who's got the Prophet?" She demanded, and Lily passed the newspaper over to her. "Hey, Rose, what's - " She silenced Scorpius by shoving the letter in his face. "Read," she commanded, and proceeded to disappear behind the paper. She was so engrossed in reading that she barely heard the others' exclamations as they read the letter that she'd found attached to a Hogwarts owl waiting outside her window this morning. Then she gasped and they all turned towards her. "Listen!" She said, her eyes wide, and began to read them the article on the front page.

_MYSTERIES OF THE MINISTRY UNEARTHED_

Alice Montgomery

_Yesterday, a young Magical Law Enforcement worker stumbled upon a hidden room quite by accident. Charles Escalier was on his way to a meeting with an Auror subcommittee when he found a stash of Ministry files, valuable objects and forgotten paintings that had been thought to have been lost more than 50 years ago. One of the objects recently recovered from this treasure trove was a portrait of Newt Scamander (pictured above), famed author of 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them'. This painting had not been seen for many years and had been forgotten about - though it is only the start of many lost objects that are yet to be retrieved from the room. I talked with Hermione Weasley, Head of Magical Law Enforcement, yesterday about her part in the recovery project. "Although we haven't worked out exactly what is in there, some objects already found include missing Ministry documents, Wizengamot minutes and what we believe are some of Nobby Leach's diaries." (Mr Leach was the first muggle to become Minister for Magic. He died in 1972 shortly after retiring from office.) The Department of Magical Law Enforcement is expecting to find much information about the turbulent period in the 1960s, according to Mrs Weasley. "Most of the documents that we have found have dated around the 1960s - the time of the Squibs rights protests - and we are hopeful that what we find will shed more light on the era, which has very few documentations of events and other history." The Prophet will keep you up-to-date on any further developments. The search is expected to be finished within the month._

Rose turned the paper around do that the others could clearly see the picture of Newt Scamander's portrait smiling at them from the front page. "So that's it?" Al peered closer. "All that time we spent searching for it and it was in the Ministry all along?" He threw his arms up in annoyance. Scorpius took the paper from her and studied the painting. "I can't see anything unusual in there," he mused, and Rose grimaced. "I doubt we'd be able to find out anyway - I'm sure the Ministry's got it under lock and key."

Al and Lily ogled them as if they were speaking mermish, and Rose realised that she hadn't told them about the discovery they'd made last night. "Okay - this might sound like gobbledegook, but here goes," she started to explain about Nobby Leach and his mysterious resignation. She'd just got to the part about his visit to Hogwarts in 1968 when the Scamander twins bounded over to their table.

"Hey Rose, did you see?" Lorcan grinned and waved a copy of the Prophet. Scorpius asked if she wanted pumpkin juice and Rose nodded. "Yes!" She replied to the twins. "I can't believe that it was there all along - and that it just happened to be unearthed now!" When she thought about it, it did seem suspicious. "Well thanks for your help, anyway," Lysander added.

Rose jumped as Professor Sicarius, the Potions Master, walked past their table and stumbled into her. "Sorry," he muttered and continued briskly to the teachers' table. Rose reached for her pumpkin juice. "It's no problem," she assured the boys. "I love a good mystery, especially one that gets solved in the end!" She went to take a sip of her juice but started as a white mouse leapt out of Lysander's robes and pushed the glass out of her hand.

Pumpkin juice splattered everywhere, and the mouse started licking it all up. "Oh Merlin, sorry about that, Rose," Lysander apologised and stooped to pick up his pet. "That's okay, it's easily fixed," she waved her wand and the mess disappeared.

"Look!" Al pointed frantically at the mouse, which was convulsing and turning a frightful shade of purple. "What - the juice!" Scorpius exclaimed and looked worriedly at Rose. She looked up at the teachers' table to see Professor Sicarius talking animatedly with Professor Longbottom, and suddenly a memory sprung to mind. She realised that she'd seen him after that rock had nearly crushed her - how could she have forgotten? He had been the man on the top of the astronomy tower, and he had just poisoned her juice!

"Okay, guys - I know who's after me. It's Sicarius. Scorp, you come with me; Al and Lily, you round up the rest of the DA and meet us in the secret passageway behind the tapestry on the seventh floor. We're going to solve this mystery once and for all." She expected her friends to look at her like she was crazy, but somehow they managed to make sense of what she said and they all raced for the door.

* * *

Rose felt bad about leaving Lysander and his brother alone with a poisoned mouse, but for the first time she felt as if she might actually get to the bottom of this mystery, and she knew they didn't have much time. The painting had been found, Sicarius knew about it, and he was more desperate than ever to get her out if the way - poisoning was a last-ditch effort that would draw attention to the Potions Master.

Rose pulled Scorpius down to the dungeons, and their feet slapped hard against the cold stone floor. "Where in Merlin's name are we going, Rose?" Scorpius demanded. "In here," she puffed and jerked him into Sicarius' office. "Quick, help me look for any clues," she started searching frantically through the many-drawered desk at the back if the dark room. It was crazy, yes, but that the painting had been found, she couldn't afford to waste time - she needed to know what it was all about, and she needed to know now.

"Rose," Scorpius whispered furiously and pulled her into a cupboard, shutting the door. Rose heard footsteps over the sound of her pounding heart. "He's coming," Scorpius' voice was barely a breath next to her ear. Once again she found herself pushed up against him in a very confined space - what was it about them that seemed to attract these types if situations?

Rose tried to steady her breathing as the door creaked open and someone entered the office. He's going to check if anyone's here! Rose realised suddenly. As fast as she could, she pulled out her wand and pointed it at the doors of the cupboard. Protego, she thought and concentrated hard. The footsteps stopped for a second, and then moved further away from them.

"Is the Wand Rights bill in the painting?" The gravelly voice of Sicarius questioned. 'Floo network?' Scorpius mouthed at Rose in the dim light, and she nodded. "No," a squeaky voice replied. Rose's mind reeled. Newt's portrait was not the painting! But that wasn't the most mind-bending thing. 'Wand Rights', Sicarius had said. That could only mean one thing: Nobby Leach had nearly succeeded in giving goblins the right to carry a wand.


	7. Chapter 7

"Have you checked the painting?" Professor Sicarius' voice questioned. Rose suddenly found herself with the almost irresistible urge to sneeze, and stuffed her fist under her nose in an attempt to quell the sensation. She couldn't give them away now - Sicarius would almost certainly kill them on the spot, and besides, they were so close to figuring out the case!

Suddenly, she remembered a spell that her dad had taught Hugo before he'd started in his first year at Hogwarts. It was supposed to allow you to talk in class by filling surrounding people's ears with a gentle buzzing sound, but Rose hadn't ever needed or wanted to use it, unlike her not quite so studious brother.

"Muffliato!" She jabbed her wand towards the cupboard doors again.

"What are you doing?" Scorpius whispered.

"Just a second," Rose prayed that the spell had worked, and finally gave in to the impulse to sneeze. After a few tense seconds, she realised that the Professor had not in fact heard her, and grinned at Scorpius.

"They won't be able to hear us now," she motioned in the direction of the voices. "Let's get a bit more comfortable," she suggested, and manoeuvred herself around so that she was facing Scorpius, who smirked and slid down to the floor. Rose followed suit so that they were sitting on the bottom of the cupboard, resting against opposing sides.

"I checked the painting for any traces of magic but nothing came up except a few hints of the old animation spell," the higher voice wafted into the cupboard, and Rose gave a small smile of satisfaction - she'd been right.

"Do you know what this means, Fawley?" Sicarius paced back and forth, edging closer to the cupboard that Rpse and Scorpius were sitting in, and Rose's heart started pounding. What if he'd realised that they were there? But the professor stopped and sat down somewhere over the other side of the room.

"No, sir," the man called Fawley quavered.

"It means," Sicarius paused, "that the painting - and the bill - is still in the castle." The office was silent until the other man coughed nervously.

"But Sicarius, sir, how do we know that Leach definitely put the papers in a portrait? Couldn't he have hidden it elsewhere - "

"No," the Potions Master's voice echoed around the room. "Our people checked his wand after they finally caught up with him, and the last spell it cast was evidently one to transport objects into a magical painting," Sicarius stated confidently, as if he'd repeated those exact words many times. "The Minister came to Hogwarts, put the bill into a painting, and then took the portrait of Scamander to hide in the Ministry, which is where we found him. There was no time for him to take any other paintings out of the school, so the papers must still be here, somewhere."

There was a pause again.

"Then what do you suggest we do then, sir?" Fawley ventured. There was a sound of rustling robes, and Rose assumed that the professor had gotten out of his chair.

"Send me a group of ten to twelve through the floo network into my office. I'll cause a distraction so all students and teachers are contained, and then we can begin the search," Sicarius ordered.

"Yes, sir, on it sir," the other man mumbled.

"Now go - I must get the diversion in order." There was a whoosh of air and the office fell silent. The professor whisked himself out of the room, but Rose and Scorpius waited for a few more minutes until they were sure he was gone. They clambered out of the cupboard and looked around the office.

"We'd better go meet the others," Scorpius said finally. "We don't want to be caught in here when Sicarius' reinforcements come in."

* * *

They rushed out of the Potion Master's office, but Rose was pondering what they'd just heard.

"If you were Nobby Leach," she said to Scorpius thoughtfully, "which painting would you choose to hide the documents you'd risked your life for?" He frowned and bit his lip, then pulled Rose around the corner and stopped her from flying into a suit of armour.

"I'd keep the papers with a painting who I knew I could trust," he started. "A portrait who would protect the bill with his or her life, who was brave and resourceful, but - ah! - a painting which no one would expect me to choose." They began climbing the staircases up to the seventh floor. "Someone who seemed crazy or ditzy, just not a good choice in general, but who was actually loyal and completely faithful." Scorpius kept them going faster as the words rolled off his tongue.

"Someone who I was familiar with but who no one else really gave a second thought to," he turned and gave Rose a wry grin. "What I'm really saying is that I'd give it to the underdog." They were on the second floor now, and a staircase swung forward to meet them as they continued to clamber upwards. "Know any paintings like that?"

Rose thought back to that long list that she'd made a few months ago now. After going through it so many times, both for looking for a portrait to test her spell for Fawkes on, and for finding Newt's painting, she probably knew at least half of the paintings in the castle - though it was likely to be even more. Who was brave, loyal and trustworthy? A portrait would usually only have the most basic attributes of the person it represented - so it was most likely to be a Gryffindor or Hufflepuff.

Someone who was eccentric or seemingly simple, someone who people laughed at or just ignored. A painting which called out to students in the hallways, who was conspicuous yet hid in plain sight, who no one would ever think of entrusting anyone to ...

"No," Rose breathed. "Was that a 'no, you don't know any paintings'?" Scorpius puffed.

"I - I've got an idea, but it's crazy," she looked around to see that they'd reached the sixth floor and were halfway up the staircase to the seventh.

"I like crazy," Scorpius grinned, and Rose shook her head at him. "So?" He prompted her.

"I think - " she broke off as they stopped at the top of the stairs.

Before them was the seventh floor, and just down the corridor was the tapestry behind which Rose prayed the rest of the reformed DA was waiting. They were going to need help if they were to face a dozen highly trained wizards who were probably not above using Unforgivable Curses. She pulled Scorpius over to the entrance to the secret passage.

"I think we need to pay Sir Cadogan a visit," she finished, and pushed the tapestry which depicted Barnabus the Barmy failing to teach trolls ballet aside.


	8. Chapter 8

"Rose!"

"Morning, detective!"

"What's happening?" Rose was bombarded with voices as she walked into the secret passageway accompanied by Scorpius. Her cousins and a few of their most trusted friends stood against the walls and chattered excitedly.

"Hey, Red," she turned to see Hugo pushing through the crowd towards her. The nickname 'Red' had come from her dad, who started calling her 'Rosie-Red', and toddler Hugo fashioned it into a word easily pronounced by three-year-olds.

"Hey, Hugo," she ruffled his hair as he reached her, which was slightly more brown than hers but ten times more unruly. "I don't remember seeing you at our first meeting," Rose recalled the scene in the hospital wing. Hugo scuffed his shoes.

"I was actually in detention," he said bashfully. Rose tried to be stern, but couldn't quite manage it. After all, they were about to fight for their lives.

"Okay, listen up everyone!" She called out, and the corridor went silent. "Now, as you probably know, our own Potions Master, Professor Sicarius is part of a conspiracy." A few people nodded. "Well, Scorpius and I overheard him talking to one of his informants at the Ministry, and we found out what he's up to." Rose quickly summarised what they'd found out, and the group stood, shell shocked, as they comprehended the enormity of what was happening.

"So we're going to fight them," Al said solemnly.

"Well, if we could alert the teachers - " Rose started, but people started shaking their heads.

"They've been evacuated into the common rooms," Roxy explained. "Fred tried getting in to the Gryffindor room, but the Fat Lady's not in her portrait, and he couldn't get in. I'd assume that Sicarius told them that something dangerous was happening, and then trapped them inside," she finished grimly.

The DA was quiet for a moment, mulling over the situation. Then Louis spoke up.

"So, Rose," he turned to his cousin. "What are the tactics?" His sister, Dominique, rolled her eyes at him.

"It's not a quidditch game, Lou," she poked him.

"No, but maybe it can be," Rose said slowly.

"What - no," Al frowned, but Rose waved a hand at him.

"We'd be breaking about a hundred school rules, but if we do it, we might just have a chance," she bit her lip. "After all, we've got half a team here anyway!" She tried for a smile, which was echoed around the room.

"What are you saying?" Scorpius asked her suspiciously, and Rose looked up at him.

"Well, look at it. We're all pretty good fliers," Except me, she stopped herself from adding - she'd sort that out somehow. "And none of the wizards will have brooms, that'll give us an advantage," she started speeding up.

"And we all know I'm Gryffindor's unofficial strategist for a reason." She finished, and James clapped his hands together.

"I think it's a great idea," he had a mischievous light in his eyes that Rose usually dreaded, but welcomed now it was directed at someone else. "Ladies, gentlemen - to your brooms. It's about time we played quidditch."

Rose thundered down the seventh-floor corridor, broom in one hand, wand in the other. Scorpius had insisted on coming with her, but the rest of the DA was headed downstairs to distract the reinforcements that Sicarius had called for. If Rose remembered correctly, Sir Cadogan's portrait was just down the end of this passageway - no need to climb onto her broom, and anyway, she'd prefer not to.

Shortly enough she stopped in front of the painting she was looking for. Cautiously, she stepped forward and addressed its occupant.

"Sir Cadogan?" The knight jumped to attention, his sword bashing into the side of his helmet.

"How may I assist thee, fair lady? Are you on a quest?" Rose bit back a grin at his demeanour.

"I am on a quest, actually," she replied. "I'm looking for something that was hidden a long time ago." Sir Cadogan was trying to pull his pony further into the foreground, but the horse was stubbornly munching grass and refused to move.

"Is it a treasure? A great quest always has hidden treasure!" He gave one last tug on the bridle of his mount and gave up.

"It is a treasure of sorts - it's very important and valuable," Rose grinned at his attempts to move the pony. "It's something that would be dangerous in the wrong hands, and I believe that it was given to you for protection." She saw no point in blundering around any longer.

"I know that Nobby Leach put the Goblin Rights bill in your painting, and I need to get it before anyone else does. There's another group of people coming that would destroy you if they knew about it," she explained. The knight nearly tripped over his own sword.

"I - I know of no such thing!" He said indignantly, and she sighed.

"Sir, I know that you've got it. You can trust me - I'm a Gryffindor, and Hermione Granger's daughter. I'm trying to save you!" She hoped that her mum's name would convince the wizard - she had after all helped defeat the greatest dark wizard of all time. Sir Cadogan got up and brushed himself off. After studying her for some time, he took a deep breath and said,

"Very well."

He walked back to his pony and pulled a wooden box out of the ground.

"It's in here," he told Rose. "If you can get it out, it's yours, but I've never known a wizard or witch who was able to take objects out of paintings," he trailed off.

"Well you might just meet one now," she said, and set to work on a new spell.

Twenty minutes, a few frustrated moments and four tries later, Rose finally had the bill. Hands trembling, she unrolled to scroll and skimmed through the papers. Just as she thought - it authorised goblins as legal wand carriers. However, there was one thing preventing it from being made law. It needed the signature of a Magical Law Enforcement employee.

"Mum," Rose muttered.

"What?" Scorpius started - she wasn't sure if he'd been deeply engrossed in the bill or daydreaming.

"I think we need to visit - "

"By Merlin!" Scorpius cut her off. He grabbed his broom and leapt on, motioning for Rose to follow. As they sped around the corner, she looked back to see a hoarse of wizards in Ministry of Magic robes sprinting down the hallway after them.


	9. Chapter 9

"C'mon Rose!" Scorpius yelled over his shoulder at her as she struggled to keep control of her broom. "You've got to speed up, they catching us up," his voice barely carried over the roar of air blowing past her face. Rose gritted her teeth and tried to go faster, but some ingrained reaction urged her to slow down, as if a voice in her head was telling her that she'd crash.

It had been established that, though she was a first-rate tactician, Rose was never going to be a passable flier. Though no one could be quite sure why she was so different from the rest of her family in this aspect, Rose thought it stemmed from an incident that occurred when she was a toddler.

As well as she could remember, the five-year-old James had somehow managed to get her on his new broom without the adults noticing and taken her for a ride. This would have been a perfectly nice, cousinly thing to do, however, even then James was pretty sure if himself and decided to try out a few loop-the-loops. Unfortunately, Rose wasn't expecting it at all, and James seemed to have almost forgotten that she was there, and she fell off and tumbled towards the ground - a fall of at least twenty feet. It had been the most terrifying experience of her life - and also the first time she showed signs of magical ability, after landing gently on the ground and bouncing until she lost momentum.

James was punished severely by Aunt Ginny, but Rose was still left with an inbuilt fear of brooms. Flying at a reasonable speed she could handle, but anything fast or requiring manoeuvres was too much for her to handle. With the group of Aurors (she could tell who they were from their Ministry robes) close behind them, Rose flew after Scorpius down the staircase that lead to the sixth floor.

"Where are we going?" She struggled to make herself heard.

"I don't know!" Scorpius replied. "I thought you had a plan!" Rose grimaced. Yes, she had made a plan for the rest of the DA to ambush Sicarius' cronies, and given them a few strategies to use, but she hadn't quite got to the afterwards part of the plan.

She wondered worriedly what had happened to her cousins and their friends. They were supposed to double back and attack the Aurors a second time, but it seemed that they'd been defeated twice, and it was unlikely that Rose and Scorpius had any reinforcements coming. Only half concentrating on flying, Rose started formulating an escape plan. They needed to get to the Ministry - but how? They couldn't apparate, couldn't fly or Sicarius would catch them ... they needed magical transportation, but what could an underage wizard and witch possibly do?

And then it hit her.

"The Floo Network!" She called hoarsely to Scorpius. Most of the fires were monitored by the Ministry - at least to stop anything more than conversation through the fires. You could talk to people, but the line was drawn at getting in or out of Hogwarts - it would be a security risk. So which fires weren't policed? Rose could only think of one ...

"Can you get us into McGonagall's office?" She asked her boyfriend. Scorpius craned his neck around to look at her.

"Probably, but if you don't speed up we'll get caught by Sicarius' guys before we even get there!" He turned back to concentrate on where he was going and Rose took a deep breath. She had a plan, Scorpius would do his bit, and now she had to do hers - slow down the Aurors and get over her fear of flying.

She narrowed her eyes and took a few deep breaths.

"Okay Rose - stop being stupid and do this," she muttered to herself. "Scorpius," she called again, "do you happen to have any of Uncle George's Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder, by any chance?" For once, she was relying on her boyfriend's prankster streak - though she promised herself it would never happen again.

"Carry it with me everywhere," she heard him say, and imagined him smirking. "What do you want it for?" Rose drew her wand out from her robes.

"When I say 'Go!', I want you to throw it as far as you can behind you," she started speeding up and almost smiled as she began to draw alongside Scorpius. "Got it," he said, and Rose glanced quickly behind her. The group of renegade Dark Wizard Catchers were only twenty or so feet behind them, and she let them round the next corner before she acted.

"Stupefy!" She yelled, pointing her wand at the group. A beam of red light shot towards them, but Rose didn't stop to see the effect of her spell. "Stupefy!" She waved her wand again, and more red light shot towards their attackers. She knew that they were too far away for her spells to have any impact - the Aurors would have already started shooting spells at her and Scorpius if that wasn't the case - but hopefully it would slow them down.

A few of then started shooting spells back, but Rose yelled, "Protego!" and a shield spanned the space between them. Two of the spells were blocked, but a third shaft of green light shot towards them and Rose yelled a warning to Scorpius as she rolled over her broom to avoid the Killing Curse. _Nicely executed Sloth-grip roll_, she thought mutely.

It wasn't long before the group disabled the barrier and raced towards Rose again, though, and she knew it was time to get out of there - these Aurors had stated clearly their intentions to kill.

"Go!" She screamed at Scorpius, though she was really trying to convince herself, and as he threw the black dust over his shoulder, Rose hunched down over her broom and let every fear and preconception of flying she'd ever had go.

She streamed down the staircases, Scorpius hot on her tail, dodging statues and weaving around corners.

"Dive!" She heard Scorpius yell behind her, and without thinking of her fear of heights Rose pointed her broom straight towards the first floor and flew head first through the moving stairs. It was as if her Weasley blood was finally showing through and the broom felt natural in her hands. Streaks of red and white hair, Rose and Scorpius rocketed towards the ground and pulled up steeply just in time to avoid crashing.

As they raced past the Great Hall, Scorpius took the lead and flew towards the Headmistress' office. Rose hoped fervently that they'd lost Sicarius' cronies, but she realised that if the had any sense they'd just jump down to the first floor and use a cushioning charm, so they couldn't be sure of any extra time.

They reached the gargoyle guardians and Scorpius garbled something to them. After a few moments of tension and Rose glancing nervously over her shoulder, they were let in just as the Aurors rounded the corner. Rose and Scorpius raced towards the fireplace and Rose grabbed a handful of Floo Powder.

"Head of Magical Law Enforcement Office, Ministry of Magic," Rose said clearly and carefully, dropped the powder and leapt into the green flames with Scorpius, praying that Professor McGonagall had access to the Ministry, because if she didn't they would soon find themselves in a very awkward situation.

* * *

After a few seconds of emerald vision and various fire grates, the two tumbled into a small room. Rose looked up and felt like crying in relief when she saw her mum sitting at her desk, looking rather calm for someone who'd just had two flushed Hogwarts students come through he fireplace. Hands trembling, Rose pulled the box out of her robes and gave the Goblin Wand Rights bill over to her mother, who sat there for a few seconds, eyes tearing across the page.

Finally she spoke.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" She said slowly, and Rose felt words tumbling out of her mouth.

"There are people after that - our Potions Master - and they pushed me off the tower and tried to poison me because I put Fawkes into Dumbledore's painting, and they knew Nobby Leach had hidden the bill in a painting, and they thought I could get it out, which I did actually, but I didn't know about but they thought I did because I was looking for the Scamander portrait which they thought was the one and it was actually Sir Cadogan, and now they're after us and they trapped everyone else and you need to sign it now before they can stop us again," she stopped as she realised that what she'd said probably made no sense, but somehow her mum understood.

"Very well," her mum smiled, "I think it should be passed, but as long as you realise the implications of this, Rose," she looked at her daughter seriously.

"I know, mum, but it's the right thing to do," she dusted a bit of spot off of her robes. "We can't keep these medieval rules forever." The three of them looked at each other and saw agreement in each if their eyes.

"I'll need a witness to sign," her mum said.

"You can't get anyone from here," Rose said frantically. "Sicarius recruited Aurors - anyone could be in on it." Her mother frowned.

"And it can't be a relative - so not you, or Harry, or Ron," she put a hand to her forehead. "I don't know if I can trust anyone else, though." Scorpius stepped forward.

"Could you trust me?" He held Rose's mum's gaze. "I'm 16, I can sign, right?" There was silence in the office for a long moment.

"Yes, you can, Mr Malfoy," her mum said slowly. "You can indeed." And so Rose watched in amazement as her mum and boyfriendprovided the signatures needed to pass the very first law to allow goblins to carry a wand.


	10. Chapter 10

Rose surveyed the quidditch pitch and took in the situation. Firstly, it wasn't really a quidditch pitch - but her mum had done such an amazing job charming Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny's back garden that it was almost like being at Hogwarts. Except this time it was different - instead of Gryffindor vs Slytherin it was the Weasleys vs the Potters. Although as there were only five of them (Ginny had decided to play on their side to even it up a bit), Scorpius was thrown in with them.

It had been just over a month since she'd found the Wand Rights bill, and the Department of Magical Law Enforcement was working overtime to prepare for a new wand-bearing race. The first wands for Goblins were expected to be sold in two months. Professor Sicarius had been arrested, along with the Aurors who had assisted him, and Uncle Harry had set about rooting out any other traitors from the Auror ranks. The screening for Auror training was even tighter now in an attempt to keep the department free of corruption, but everyone knew that with such a large group of employees, it would be impossible to stop it completely. They just had to accept that and be ready to fight it when necessary.

After Sicarius' arrest, a lot of unanswered questions had been solved. It turned out that he had tampered with her memories to make her forget about his attempt on her life, but Rose had been able to overcome the spell after she'd been faced with both Scorpius' memory and facts that were impossible to deny.

A group started by Abraxas Malfoy had forced Nobby Leach out of the Ministry to try and stop him passing the bill, but the Minister had managed to hide it at Hogwarts, and the group had been searching for it ever since. Scorpius had been worried that his dad had been in on it, but Draco was cleared and the rest of the group arrested.

There'd been a lot of attention from the Prophet and Rose had received hundreds of letters congratulating, condemning or asking her for more details about the mystery. And though she'd hated all the attention from the rest of the students, she almost didn't want to go home for the holidays, because Scorpius always stayed for the mid-year holidays and Al had invited him once again. It wasn't that she didn't want to spend time with him - it was her dad.

Because, although she'd put it off for months now, she'd had to tell him about her relationship with Scorpius. It hadn't been pretty - but then again, it hadn't been too bad either, with her mum there as mediator. Her dad had eventually accepted Scorpius as Rose's boyfriend, but not before he gave him the embarrassing 'don't you dare hurt her or anything like that, mr' speech, which had made Rose cringe and want to go hide in her room and never come out again, especially as they'd been sitting at the kitchen table eating dinner at the time. She also suspected that her dad was secretly happy that Scorpius was on the other team with the Potters, which meant he had an excuse to beat him.

Rose had decided to take rest from her detective work for the moment, but when she got back she knew there would be piles of mysteries waiting for her. After the Prophet had run an article about her being Hogwarts' unofficial detective, readers had written in with all kinds of problems, and though many of them were downright stupid, a few seemed worthy of a case - and best of all, she could probably solve them without even having to leave the castle! She hadn't discussed it with Scorpius, as she knew he'd rather that she stopped investigating altogether, but he also wanted her to be happy, just like she wanted him to be, and anyway, they still had the phoenix armbands in an emergency, which would call the entire DA - a phenomenal force.

One good thing had come out of their last escapade, though - Rise had finally got over her inbuilt fear of flying, and James was now trying to get her to join the Gryffindor quidditch team once their seeker left at the end of the year. She hadn't decided what she was going to do yet, but for the first time she was joining in with the family quidditch matches and having the time of her life.

As the Potter team had Uncle Harry, Aunt Ginny, James and Scorpius who were experienced players, and Lily and Al who were pretty decent, the Weasley team had a few extras. Her dad, Uncle George, Hugo, Fred, Roxy, Louis and Dom were playing with her, and she thought they were a pretty good team. Especially considering that Rose was famous at Hogwarts for her tactics.

The families stood on the ground, facing each other, as her mum held the quaffle in one hand and wand ready to release the bludgers and snitch in the other. (As the Potters and Weasleys were all mad about quidditch, they'd bought a proper equipment set together a few years back.) Her mum raised the quaffle and waited until everyone was still.

Rose eyed Scorpius, who was playing against her as the Potters' seeker (they'd decided that uncle Harry wasn't allowed to play seeker, especially as he'd be against one if the kids - neither her dad nor uncle Fred could play seeker to save their lives). Yes, he was her boyfriend, but if she did join the Gryffindor team she'd be playing him for real, so she'd better get used to it. Rose took a deep breath, and then her mum threw the quaffle into the air and he game started. She kicked up hard, heading in Scorpius' direction, and grinned.

This was going to be totally awesome.


End file.
